BGG.Spring Recap

It’s been quite a while!! I have been pretty busy with new projects (and new deadlines) at work, but I was super excited to get to spend 4 days gaming in Dallas with a few friends of mine at BGG.Spring convention this year! It was my first BGG.Spring convention, and my second BGG con overall, and I had a great time. I got to play some games I have been dying to play, got introduced to some new ones, and came home with a ton of new things to play as well. I also ate some really great BBQ which is also one thing I always look forward to on these trips.

Instead of giving you a play by play of every single game played (because there were some nights where we just played party games, which while fun I don’t think make for very compelling reading), I figure I will talk about the games I played which I really enjoyed as well as some of the games I picked up I’m excited to play. So first, games I played which I really enjoyed:

Ganz schön clever (or Clever, as we call it)
This is a pretty simple roll and write game, and for me it was the game of the Con. I really like the mechanics in it and it plays quick enough that even if you play suboptimally, you aren’t stuck for too long. Lots of choices to make and if you play your dice right you can set up combos which become really powerful at the end of the game. I added this to my 10 x 10 list, replacing Viticulture because while I love that game there is no way that we will get it played 10 times this year.

The ColonistsI had been dying to get this one to the table as I’ve owned it for a couple years but never played it, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s a heavier game that is rules light but the choices you get expand exponentially with each turn, meaning there is a lot to take in and do. We played 2 out of 4 eras, and I definitely want to commit to playing a 4 era game some day. Maybe next year to kick off the Con. This was also on my 5 x 1 list, so it was nice to make some progress on that.

Memoir ’44: The D-Day LandingsWhoa buddy. This was the whole enchilada. I’ve posted about my love for Memoir before, but this really took the cake. We had 8-10 players who played for a good 3.5-4 hours on 6 maps spanning the D-Day landings. I feel as in this case a picture would help, so here you go.

Everyone had a good time and we even had a few people who were learning the game for the first time. This is definitely an experience to behold and I’m glad I set it up and transported all my Memoir stuff down there.

Mystic ValeThis is a unique deckbuilder where you are actually layering clear cards on top of one another to morph your cards into something different. I picked this up for my birthday back in February this year but didn’t have a chance to play. Luckily my friend Chris also had wanted to try it again so we played through a game. It’s a mechanic that you see a lot of presented in a new way, and I can’t wait to explore it more.

Roads and BoatsThis is a game about logistics. There is no way around it. It’s meaty, thinky, and a wrong play early in the game can totally screw you over in the late game (which is what happened to me). I love playing this one about once a year, and it too was on my 5 x 1 list, so I’m glad I got to help teach it to a new player.

Space Base
This was a game I had never heard anything about but a new friend brought it to play the night before the convention actually started. It reminds me of Machi Koro if you actually made meaningful decisions in Machi Koro; you roll dice, and depending on the roll and the cards you have, you get stuff. The artwork was great and it was the perfect length for what it was.

And here are the games I picked up in various sales that I am super excited to play:

Bunny Kingdom
I actually played this on a recommendation from my friend who drove down with me, and it didn’t disappoint. While it looks light, there are a lot of meaningful decisions to be made and the theme (and artwork, especially on the box) are a little silly.

V-Commandos
I bought this after hearing some really great things about it on BGG. It’s a co-op game where you take a team of commandos on missions in WWII. I think it will scratch the wargame-esque ameritrash itch if that is what I’m looking for.

Carrier
This is a super heavy, meaty game of WWII Pacific warfare from the 1990. It’s long out of print, and so to find a copy that someone was willing to party with in reasonable condition was absolutely fantastic. I am waiting for the right time to get this to the table when I can actually sit down and learn the rules.

Fire in the LakeMy second game in GMT COIN series (well, okay it’s actually like my third but this time I’m keeping it), this is a game about Vietnam, which is a subject I’m exploring more and more as I talk to my father (who served two tours there) about it. I’m looking forward to trying this one out solo.

And there you have it. A super fun time was had and I’m definitely glad I went and participated in the festivities. Have you played any of these games? What were your thoughts. Let me know in the comments below!